The Freedman and the Pharaoh's Staff Read Online Free PDF

use. Nothing could make him release the map from his hands, though. The map to this Pharaoh’s Staff was too intricate for Crispus to understand. He couldn’t make sense of it without La’Rita’s help.
    The door opened, and someone stepped inside. The door closed. Footsteps echoed in the room for a few minutes, then jars moving, opening, and closing. There was a knock on the shelf above Crispus’s head. He didn’t want to reveal himself, not knowing whom it was, but he found himself struggling not to burst through the cabinet door to freedom!
    â€œ Mon ami, dee time to move has come, bien?” Lafayette opened the cabinet and helped Crispus out. “Come wit me now.”  
    Grunting, Crispus stretched out his body. “What is going on outside? I was in there for a decade .” He glared at the houngan, dripping in sweat, though all he wore was a pair of pants.  
    â€œ Mon ami , things do not look good outside fo us.” Lafayette shook his head. “Them bakas out there tryin’ to kill every black in dis town cause they lookin’ fo you. I try goin’ and talk to dee constable, but okenn, he do nothin’." He glowered and pointed at Crispus. “I hid ya for ya brother’s sake.”  
    â€œI thank you, good sir—even though we’ve had our qualms, as black people, and all those who face oppression, we need unity and it is coming. With Reconstruction, we have the right to vote. We already have eighty-seven black legislators and are under military control by Union generals. With a map to the Pharaoh’s Staff, our prosperous future is at hand.” Crispus held up the scroll. “And only your mother can tell me where it leads.”  
    â€œDis I know, no?” Lafayette scratched his tattoo-covered head. He went over to a shelf against the back wall and rummaged through jars of murky liquids, herbs, and talismans.
    â€œI risked my life many times to rescue this from the Ku Klux Klan.” Crispus pocketed the map inside his ruined black suit. “A former slave of the Nighthawk’s told me his master was looking for this since the beginning of the war.” He followed Lafayette with his eyes as he started looking through a pile of papers on a different shelf. “This man showed me the Nighthawk’s plantation, where the Klan met, so I crept out to observe all their gatherings, waiting for the map to appear.” Crispus continued his story to an oblivious audience, but he didn’t mind. “A few weeks ago, they revealed it, then locked it away somewhere on the plantation. I spent every night sneaking in and out of that place.
    "Until I finally found it—Lafayette, time is precious! What are you looking for?” Crispus scowled.
    â€œ Mon ami, ya speak of dee black man’s unity, and unity of oppressed peoples, no? So, shut up and let me help ya!” Lafayette snorted as he grabbed a piece of paper from a shelf. “Dis is très powerful. Ya take it.” He handed the paper to Crispus, who looked it over for a moment.  
    â€œWhat is this?” He read several lines of the page. Written in Creole, it described the sensation of fear. “How is this going to help me?” Crispus scoffed. Thunder clapped out in the street and the door rained woodchips. “A gunshot!” Crispus threw himself to the ground where Lafayette covered his ears. Another pop. Then another. Then another, the door gave off showers of wood.  
    â€œDee riot as begun. Take dis blessin’ powder and throw it on whomever you want hexed. They be afraid, mon ami. ” Lafayette grabbed a nearby pouch and slid it across the floor to Crispus. He grabbed the pouch and tucked it in a suit pocket. Panicked screams erupted, reverberating through the badji . Crispus couldn’t keep himself from trembling, his body jumping at each clap.  
    â€œGo on to mwen mother, quickly now!” Lafayette shouted over